By Mark Wilson | 60 Min Video

Webex Contact Center has rolled out important updates that directly impact how queues are managed and optimized. In this video, Sunset Learning instructor Mark Wilson breaks down the latest changes, explains what they mean for your contact center, and shares practical tips to adapt with confidence. Learn about the latest Webex Contact Center queue updates, including things like interface changes and enhancements to LAA and SBR queues to help you optimize flows, skill assignments, and workload management.

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Queue Management and Optimization

• Webex Contact Center’s important updates focus on queue management optimization, including interface changes and enhancements to LAA and SBR queues for improved flows, skill assignments, and workload management.
• The platform now offers four queue types: LAA (Longest Available Agent), SBR (Skills-Based Routing), agent-based, and team-based, providing more flexible routing options.

Skills-Based Routing (SBR)

• SBR enables dynamic skill matching and targeted routing by assigning skills to agents and contacts, leading to more efficient call handling.
• Skill Relaxation in SBR allows for gradual relaxation of skill requirements over time, increasing agent utilization and improving call handling efficiency.
• Variable Queue Names can be used to dynamically assign queue names based on skill requirements or agent availability, but may cause confusion with mixed queue types.

Agent Assignment and Skill Management

• Agent-based routing allows for explicit listing of agents, while team-based routing assigns agents based on team membership.
• The new queue configuration enables assignment of skill requirements to queues, defining a collection of skills agents must possess, with the best candidate determined by all proficiencies and availability.
• Skill Profile Assignment allows for direct assignment of skills to agents, enabling more flexible and targeted skill matching.

Queue Functionality and Purpose

• Queues in Webex Contact Center serve as virtual containers for calls and designate the pool of candidate agents for handling contacts, with most settings being non-modifiable once set.

Call Handling and Efficiency

• Longest Available Agent (LAA) assigns calls to the agent available for the longest time, while SBR matches calls to agents based on skills, allowing for more targeted skill matching.
• Disconnect Logic in SBR can be used to disconnect calls if no agents meet the required skill requirements, helping to avoid stuck calls and improve call handling efficiency.

Instructor Bio:

Mark Wilson’s first job in the IT industry was in the mid-1990s after college and a few years in the Army. His experience started with hardware and desktop support, eventually migrating to Server and LAN Administration and developing cable modem systems and ISP Services. Mark then joined SLI (named CCTI at the time) in 1999, teaching Cisco courses on routing and dial-up networking (yes –analog modems). He feels that he got into voice backwards by teaching courses on Cisco ICM before migrating to Call Manager, Unity, and CRS (an early name for UCCX), which created opportunities to teach a few courses in Europe.

Several years later, Mark was offered a chance to work for Avaya, focusing on large contact center customers. He worked there for 10 years as a sales engineer and architect. That was followed by an opportunity to return to his roots performing support for networking, voice, small contact centers, and other contract services. Recently, Mark returned and is excited to be back teaching at SLI. His current focus is contact center courses, but given how many different areas he has worked, he reserves to right to teach other technologies.